European Commission announces extra €43 million humanitarian aid to Lebanon for Syria crisis

The European Commission will give an additional €43 million in humanitarian aid to support Syrian refugees and their host communities in Lebanon.

Announcing the new funding allocation on a visit today to Lebanon, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides said:

“We have to support Lebanon for being a generous host to such a large number of Syrian refugees.  The EU is showing solidarity as the largest humanitarian donor to the Syria response and we are now stepping up our assistance to those most in need at this critical time. Lebanon and its people should be commended for hosting more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees. Today, Syrian refugees account for a quarter of Lebanon's population.”

The funding will help prepare the most vulnerable refugees for the approaching winter. It will provide assistance for shelter rehabilitation, heating as well as health care support for some of the most vulnerable refugee families, which will allow them access to secondary health care in hospitals.

Lebanon is home to the highest refugee per capita rate in the world and comes second only to Turkey in terms of absolute numbers of Syrian refugees. 

Background

The funding allocation announced today concerns the €200 million of additional humanitarian aid for 2015 proposed by the Commission on 23 September to provide immediate resources to respond to demands from UNHCR and the World Food Programme and other relevant organisations in order to help refugees immediately.

The EU is the leading donor to the Syria crisis with over €4,2 billion from the EU and Member States collectively in humanitarian, development, economic and stabilisation assistance.